Baby Steps
by Klutzygirl33
Summary: Donald is thrown for a loop the first time one of the kids calls him "Dad" instead of Mr. Davenport.


**I don't own Lab Rats and never will. No copyright infringement intended.**

_Author's Note: _Warning for major character injury.

* * *

Donald and Tasha were preparing dinner when it happened for the first time. "Cut this tomato," she instructed.

He was doing just that when Bree walked into the room. "Hey. How was school?"

"Good. I think Michael Rochester likes me, but I don't know for sure. What'd you guys do today?" Bree smiled at her parents.

Donald frowned at the thought of his daughter liking someone, just like he always did. "I spent most of the morning in the lab. Almost have everything up and running again."

"That's good. Well, I have homework to do before I can go to the mall later." She couldn't wait to go shopping with her friends.

"Don't buy too much." She never did, but Donald was still trying to adjust to the fact that he didn't have much money anymore. He was determined to get it back, however, and was working hard to do so.

Bree (and Tasha) knew that too. "I won't. Good luck tonight, Dad!" He had a big meeting with some investors later, and they were all worried about it.

The knife stilled, Donald froze, his heart skipped a few beats, and he looked up at Bree. She was beaming and skipped away to her room. He turned to his wife. "I didn't just imagine that, did I?"

Both smiling and crying, Tasha shook her head. "You didn't imagine it."

The kids had called him their father before, but they had never actually referred to him as that by name. He was always "Mr. Davenport" or Big D to them. His hands now shaking, Donald set the knife down and headed to the couch to sit down so he could process this. Tasha joined him. "Wow. I never expected this." Donald was in a little bit of shock.

Tasha rubbed his arm. "You're their father, Donald. I'm just surprised this didn't happen sooner." She knew those kids loved both of them. And this baby step was amazing. She considered herself to be Adam, Bree, and Chase's mother, but she wasn't expecting to be called "Mom" any time soon. Maybe someday, but not yet. She rubbed his arm.

After about ten minutes, Donald recovered enough to return to helping with dinner. Bree was the first one of the kids to call him by that title, but she wouldn't be the last.

About two months later, while Tasha was in Boston working, Donald was involved in a car accident. A nurse called her from the emergency room. "I'm out of state, but I'll call my kids. They'll be there soon." Tasha was going to be on the next flight out, but she called the kids to inform them.

"We'll call to tell you how he's doing," Chase promised. Bree ran to tell Principal Perry they had to leave, and the four siblings super-speeded to the hospital after that.

They all sighed in relief when they walked into their father's room. Donald was clearly bruising already and his ankle was swollen (he had sprained it), but he was otherwise okay. The doctor was keeping him overnight for observation just to make sure there were no other injuries, however. "We were worried," Bree explained.

Leo had to sit down to calm himself. "We thought maybe you were hurt worse, Big D." He hadn't been this terrified in a long time, and his heart was pounding. At least it was starting to slow down.

"We're glad you're okay, Dad," Chase said. Bree had been calling their father by that name off and on for a while, and now he was picking up on it. But he couldn't call him Mr. Davenport anymore, not after everything they had been through together.

Donald saw how worried and scared all his kids were and was determined to reassure them. He grinned when he heard Chase refer to him as "Dad", too, but had other things to think about right now. "Hey, you four know this is no big deal, okay? It could have been much worse, but I got off pretty lucky. I wasn't hurt that badly." When the car spun out of control, he had been terrified and unable to stop thinking about his family. He could have been hurt much worse, but the accident hadn't been that bad in the long run.

"Don't ever do this to us again," a crying Bree warned. She sniffled and wiped the tears off her face.

"Hug your sister for me, will you?" Donald requested. He'd get up, but he didn't think he could walk with his whole foot throbbing. He couldn't stand seeing his family so upset either.

Adam, Chase, and Leo pulled Bree in for a hug and then moved their huddle over to Donald so they could include their father. He hissed in pain, but relaxed into it. When Tasha got back, she found the kids asleep in a chair and Donald watching over them. She worriedly checked over him and catalogued his injuries. "I love you. You scared the hell out of me," she whispered. Tasha didn't want to wake the kids – they were clearly exhausted.

"Love you too. And sorry. I scared the shit out of the kids, too. Didn't really mean to by the way." He leaned up and gently kissed his wife, mindful of his injuries.

"I know – it's okay." Tasha found another chair and sat down next to them. When Donald was released from the hospital the next day, his wife and children helped him out until he recovered.

Adam was the next one to refer to Donald as "Dad". Douglas attacked the house again when only Donald and Adam were there – the others were out. They were all thankful for that later, although Bree, Chase, and Leo felt guilty about it. When Douglas badly wounded Donald, Adam was pissed off enough that he managed to hurt him just as bad. Douglas escaped again, leaving Donald between life and death. A sobbing Adam dropped down next to him. "Wake up, Dad," he pleaded as more sobs built up. His father was badly injured enough that he needed an ambulance, so he called 911.

"Love all of you. Don't ever forget that." Donald's eyes started to flutter, but Adam refused to let him slip into unconsciousness.

"Please don't do this. Stay awake, Dad. You're going to be just fine, okay? Don't give up, please." He choked down another sob as he carried his father upstairs so the EMS workers could find them.

He went with them in the ambulance and Adam could swear he felt his own heart stop when the machine flat lined. They shocked Donald back to life, but the situation was clearly touch and go. Adam was sitting in the waiting room, his hand covered in blood, when the others burst through the entrance. "Mom?" he asked in a small voice when he saw Tasha.

Tasha wanted to throw up when she saw the blood covering her son. "Oh, God. Fuck," she murmured.

The others stared at her in shock before joining Adam. "We should have been there." Leo felt guilty and he didn't know why. He should have been there to help.

"I'm so scared," Adam whispered, his voice cracking.

"Oh, baby." Tasha pulled him in for a hug, trying to ignore the blood. "You should change. Bree, can you run home and get your brother some new clothes?"

"Sure." Bree was clearly in shock, so Leo joined her as they super-speeded back to the house to find some new clothes for Adam to wear. Chase followed him into the bathroom to help since Adam was shaking so much he could barely do anything.

"Dad's tough. He survived so much, like that time with the jet." Chase hoped his brother was buying his smile. He could barely think straight and had no idea if he was even helping.

"I hope you're right." Adam didn't believe him at all, but he was choosing to think he was right. He didn't think they could handle it if their father died.

Donald was out of surgery hours later. He had a long way to go before he could fully recover, but he was doing better than he had been earlier. When he woke up two days later, it was to an extremely worried and exhausted family.

Bree's lips trembled when she saw his eyes open and wanted to hug him, but she was terrified to hurt him. "Please don't fight Douglas like that again. I can't lose you, Daddy." She hadn't wanted to call him that, but it slipped out.

The drugs were keeping the pain away, but Douglas still felt a little when he reached over and patted her shoulder. "You're not going to, Bree. Shh, please stop crying," he begged.

Tasha jolted awake and she grinned when she saw her husband. "Hey you. Get some rest, okay? You're going to need it."

He nodded. "Tired," he murmured.

"Go to sleep. We'll be here when you wake up," Bree told him.

Donald was pulled under. He was discharged from the hospital a week later. Leo was the next one to start referring to him as "Dad". He had been hesitant at first about using the moniker, even though his biological father died when he was a baby. "We need you, Dad. You hold us together sometimes," he told him after helping him into bed.

Donald had considered Leo his son for a long time, but he was still shocked. "Thanks, Leo. That means a lot." God, he was so tired (and the pain medication wasn't helping with that much either since he was also foggy on top of that, but they worked) and just wanted to sleep.

"If Douglas isn't dead – Adam says he hurt him pretty bad – we're going to get him. We can't keep doing this." Leo was sick of being paranoid about Douglas' next attack. They couldn't live in fear anymore.

"We will, but I don't want you to worry about it." Donald didn't want his wife and kids getting caught in the line of fire.

"You nearly died. How could we not worry?" Leo stared at him and waited for his answer.

He smiled at that. "Fine, but don't worry too much. Douglas isn't going to hurt any of us again." He'd make sure of it. Douglas wasn't getting near any of them again.

True to his word, Donald tracked his brother down a few months later and made sure the Douglas situation was taken care of for good. Nobody threatened him or his family and got away with it. He could no longer allow Douglas to harm them – he was too much of a threat now.

Donald returned to his family that night, and they all crowded around him on the couch. "We're going to watch a movie," Bree explained to him.

"We can live without worrying about Douglas' next attack now, thanks to you. You're pretty amazing, Dad." Chase beamed at his father.

"Maybe I can finally sleep through the night." Leo smiled and dug into the popcorn bowl, ignoring the protests from his siblings and mother.

Adam hoped the nightmares of that horrific day in the lab would finally end. He kept seeing it on a loop every single night. He kept sneaking into his parents' room to check to make sure both were okay, and Donald knew he needed to have a talk with his eldest son about that. Maybe therapy with someone associated with Davenport Industries? They probably all could use it, actually. Douglas had traumatized every one of them.

The Davenports were stronger as a family. And as long as Donald was in charge, nobody would ever be able to hurt them again. He'd make sure of it. And as much as he was determined to protect his kids, Adam, Bree, Chase, and Leo were just as determined to protect him from any harm. They had nearly lost him one too many times. And Tasha would make sure none of them overdid it. She'd keep them all grounded, especially since they needed it sometimes.


End file.
